Behind the lens
Capturing the spectacular despite limitations
If times were normal, professional sports photographers would be roaming around the city capturing the best shots from the Dhaka Premier Cricket League, Bangladesh Premier League or other sporting actions. Everything, however, has come to a standstill because of the coronavirus pandemic. For all concerned, and especially those in sport, the memory lane is the one most travelled during this unwanted break. The Daily Star Sport took the opportunity to share the joy, sorrow, and pleasure of their special clicks. Here, our own Firoz Ahmed talks about stories behind his best captures.
As a photojournalist, I have had many self-satisfactory moments and among those, Tamim Iqbal's one-handed air-borne catch against West Indies has occupied a special place in my heart. Because behind this picture lies some bitter truths and struggles of my professional career and also the satisfaction of achieving something brilliant owing to my sheer patience and concentration.
The ICC T20 World Cup in 2014 was going to be held in Bangladesh, but just before the grand reunion of the finest teams from around the world, the lens that I usually used got damaged. And hence, I had to work with my 70-200mm lens.
Just outside the boundary line is where the photojournalists usually set up and sit. The local photographers, unlike the ones working for ICC, have to sit at one place to take pictures as they are not allowed to roam around the ground during an ICC event. That is why I had to go through a lot of trouble as I could not focus across the ground with my 70-200mm lens, and even if I did manage to take some pictures, all of them used to come out blurry. And hence, I concentrated on taking pictures of the fielders, bowlers and the batsman who was close to me.
I won't lie; I had doubts in the beginning. The main weapon for a photojournalist is his lens. But it was very difficult to capture everything that was going around me in the field with my 70-200mm lens. That is why I had questions in my mind: how am I going to give my everything for a shot? How do I take the best picture?
The clouds of doubt, however, began to clear up as I started working with utmost devotion and due to the encouragement I received from everyone back at the office.
Then came the moment I had been waiting for. Bangladesh faced West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur that day and it was Tamim fielding at short third-man area. In the final over of West Indies' innings, Dwayne Bravo attempted to drive an Al-Amin Hossain delivery through extra cover.
But the ball took the outside edge of Bravo's bat and within seconds I saw Tamim turning into a hawk! He leapt towards his right, floating in the air, and took an absolute one-handed stunner. I, who had his sights fixed on Tamim's every move, timed my shutter clicks to perfection. And as a result, I was able to take an incredible picture with my 70-200mm lens. That picture would have been impossible to take with the lens that I worked with usually -- the one that got damaged.
It was the next moment when I realised that with patience and concentration, it is possible to achieve the unthinkable and this photo is a proof of that.